“David McClintock has done a very good job improving the Office of the Inspector General since his arrival in 2010, turning a dysfunctional office into a real asset for city government to use to investigate potential fraud, waste, and abuse,” Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said in a statement.

During three years in City Hall, McClintock investigated city workers stealing scrap metal, drivers overspending on gas cards, and contractors who overbilled the city, among other cases. Last year, McClintock's office recovered about $540,000 in funds from suspected fraud, waste and abuse, according to an annual report.

Perhaps his most high-profile investigation was a report into a controversial overhaul of the muncipal phone system that detailed possible conflicts of interest and wasteful practices in the Mayor's Office of Information Technology.

“I am sincerely thankful for the support that the OIG has received over the past 3 years from the citizens of Baltimore, the mayor, the City Council, and City employees," McClintock said in a written statement. "I am honored to have had the opportunity to serve Baltimore City."

Rawlings-Blake said she will launch a search for his replacement. That effort will be headed by City Solicitor George Nilson.

Baltimore Inspector General has released his final report on last year's gambling raid at a Department of Transportation yard. Nearly a dozen workers were arrested, but prosecutors got just one conviction, prompting critics to say the operation was overblown.

Republican Gov. Larry Hogan pledged bipartisanship and offered a conciliatory tone during his snowy inauguration Wednesday, promising "to create an environment of trust and cooperation, where the best ideas rise to the top based on upon their merit."

Advocates for programs spending state dollars on stem cell research or investment in technology companies were nervous about what Gov. Larry Hogan's budget would hold for them, given warnings of "strong medicine" to cure fiscal woes.

Calling it a first step toward fully restoring the death penalty in Maryland, Del. Pat McDonough said he plans to introduce a bill that would mandate capital punishment for anyone convicted of killing a police or correctional officer, a firefighter or witness during the performance of their...